Lane's Bakery and Gift Shop

When Jerry Lane starts missing the family-owned bakery business, he starts baking cookies, pies and cakes at home.

No longer able to stay away, Jerry Lane will then wander into Lane's Bakery & Gift Shop to see what he can do for his sons, Chuck and Mike, who now run the business. One of the last times he visited, he scrubbed the basement floor.

But Jerry Lane's fondness for the business wasn't always so strong. After high school, he enrolled at Milton College to study history instead of joining his father, Charles, at the labor-intensive bakery. New machinery has since lightened the load on that end.

"My love for the baking industry, to be honest, wasn't that great," Jerry Lane said. "I guess the only thing I really enjoyed about the bakery was eating the product."

Jerry Lane hadn't spent much time at the bakery growing up although one of his jobs was to ice cakes, put on roses his father made beforehand and create the stems.

Fate changed everything during the semester break of Jerry Lane's sophomore year. His father had a heart attack and Jerry Lane came home to help out.

Jerry Lane would visit his father at the hospital where Charles Lane would tell his son how to make a particular product and then Jerry would go back and create it.

After Charles Lane died, Jerry Lane took over the business in 1961, largely because that would mean his mother, Flay, who also worked there, wouldn't have to look for another job. He regrets now that he didn't have more time to work side-by-side with his father.

Founded in 1954

Charles and Flay Lane started Lane's Bakery on University Avenue in 1954. Flay Lane worked with the customers, particularly selling wedding cakes.

An outlet was opened on South Park Street in 1957 and then in 1960, all of the operations were moved to that location. In 1987, the bakery was moved to its current location at 448 S. Park St. where it's now known as Lane's Bakery and Gift Shop.

Shortly before taking over the business from his father, Jerry Lane was married to Nancy, who started at Lane's behind the counter when she was in high school. He credits a huge part of his success to his wife's support of the business.

Nancy Lane said the two decided if they were going to see each other at all, she would have to work at the bakery. They often talked about business at home.

"I think we probably talked about it, ate it, slept it. It was your life," Jerry Lane said.

Washing bakery racks

Chuck and Mike Lane were the couple's only children and they started helping at the bakery when they were about 11 and 13, washing the bakery racks in the basement in the days before the invention of huge dishwashers that now do the work.

"We'd pay them a $1 for every rack they did and they'd have water everywhere," Nancy Lane said.

The boys later moved on to cracking eggs and mopping floors. When they were attending West High School, they came to the bakery after school to roll out dough.

Jerry Lane said he would try out his sons' suggestions, particularly as they got older.

Sometimes, though, he would respond to one of their suggestions by repeating a favorite phrase: "You can't cut corners because pretty soon you'll find out you're not on the corner."

Although he had the final say, he did lose out on his desire to have his boys attend baking school. Chuck and Mike Lane wanted nothing to do with it, saying they could learn everything they needed from their father.

Jerry Lane, now 71, had to go into semi-retirement about five years ago because of health concerns. Jerry and Nancy Lane, 69, now live part time in Oregon where they have a condominium. He likes to help his sons, especially at Christmastime, by baking some items they don't have time for.

Succession plan

In 2003, Chuck and Mike Lane took over ownership of the business with a formal succession plan that gave each of them 49 percent. Jerry Lane has 2 percent.

"In case we have a disagreement, there is a way of settling," Mike Lane said.

Chuck Lane, now 43, and Mike Lane, 41, said they never considered doing anything else but working at the bakery. Past their younger days when they used to throw dough at each other, they've become compatible working partners.

Chuck Lane does the ordering, handles customer relations and is the public face for the bakery, serving as president of Wisconsin Bakers. Mike Lane prefers to stay behind the scenes and bake.

Mike Lane's wife, Ann, 45, runs the cake and customer service departments, does the banking and books and does some baking.

Ann Lane started at the bakery when she was 16, first doing customer service -- she was one of the last clerks trained by Flay Lane -- and then becoming a decorator. That's where she and Mike met, just like the generation before.

She said she serves as Mike and Chuck Lane's secretary and maintains some autonomy.

"I always have to consult with those two (for major decisions)," she said. "I will even go to Nancy (who has handled the business end)."

Chuck Lane also met his wife, Erica, at the bakery where she used to work. His son, C.J., 16, likes to bake at home and spends some time working at the bakery. Chuck also has a daughter, Kristina, 14.

Chuck and Mike figure the business won't stay in the Lane family beyond them. They are OK with that because they understand the challenges that include pressure from grocery stores and difficulty maintaining a quality work force. Recently, the industry has been hit by the rising cost of flour, eggs and other ingredients.

"I'm actually trying to steer my kids the other way," Chuck Lane admitted.

Pamela Cotant is a freelance writer.